We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

I was fairly neutral in my views on things until I went to Berkeley for law school and spent 3 years living in The People's Republic. There it was beyond liberal, people had totally lost their minds and their common sense. Talk about a dysfunctional community.

Sadly, I see more and more that the whole country is becoming like that, although I think a couple of our more absurd national Berkeley moments have been Cash-for-Clunkers and Obamacare. Both of them scream out, "What could you have been thinking?!?!"

I think I started consciously thinking of myself as conservative sometime in the late '90s, and though I was not a Bush fan I think it was the Florida vote dispute that pushed me over the edge, as it were.

That said, though there are a number of areas where I have arrived at bedrock Conservative conclusions - for instance, not just skepticism of activist government, but an active desire to diminish and limit government power - a whole lot of my present conservatism consists of me standing in place and Liberals rushing to my left. People I knew in my D.C. days who thought like I did are now standing way the heck left of me - and most of them can't tell me how they got there.

For whatever reason I've got a very good memory for conversation, and especially statements of foundation belief. I know that they didn't always believe that, and I've learned a lot of them don't like being reminded, especially if they actually remember after I bring it up.

I've been either registered independent or libertarian since I could vote - which was... hmm Carter/Ford. Almost voted for Jimmy, thought guy with a STEM degree might be a nice change, but did't quite get there. I blame Heinlein.

I usually vote for candidates that don't get elected - my family who've been (R)'s since forever always thought I was throwing my vote away. Since Reagan I think they've been throwing their votes away, I keep voting Lib or Ind. (just stubborn that way). This last time around they've pretty much all come to see it my way.

The only difference between a Party (R) or (D) is who the party sells out to when they're buying votes.

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